Chicken and the egg

I Feel incredibly privileged that colleagues are comfortable enough with me to ask for technology help. I see a huge movement in our building to start incorporating some amazing 21st Century teaching and learning techniques. I see teachers being learners which makes for better teaching in my humble opinion. I see teachers searching for a way to help digital natives navigate learning skills in an  in between world. Our infrastructure has not caught up with the expectations of students and teachers alike. 

I wonder if lack of infrastructure is hindering  new and innovative strategies to creating a learning environment that satisfies teacher's and student's needs but also continues push our cutting edge needs. We need to know where the edge is, where we are pushing the boundaries of technologies and thinking in order to keep moving ahead and have a hope of preparing the students of today for jobs we don't even know exist (seems to be where the bulk of job creation is). I am by no means suggesting that the current jobs are going to be completely obsolete and thus the balancing act we face everyday. 

Is our innovation hindered by infrastructure, or does innovation drive the infrastructure needed. I find myself exploring learning environments supported by the tools I have. I wonder if my own innovation is hamstrung or just pushing the boundaries already. 

I feel the frustration of my colleagues and students a like that our infrastructure is unreliable and not meeting the needs of the amazing learning opportunities created by teachers and students. Some of my best practices come from students willing to share what they know.

Aside from the infrastructure problems though I see a trepidation out there towards technology in some regards. I have read countless articles on gaming and social media that condemn its existence and use. I wonder if that is the chicken and egg piece. Are we losing out on 21 century learning opportunities because we haven't explored the technology available to us or are we missing out brilliance because the infrastructure isn't there?

I may have just answered my own questions. I see us being hampered by a little of both. Those that wish to push the limits of technology and what it offers as a tool for 21st century learning are indeed hampered by archaic infrastructure. Those that are trepidation of technology as a tool are not hampered by infrastructure in that it is not relevant to his or her progress in 21st century learning strategies. The infrastructure is more advanced than the practice.

This might be a ridiculous blog post but I needed to work through it.